HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-11-17 TOWN OF GROTON PLANNING BOARD
Thursday, 17 November 1994
Board Members (*present) Others Present
George Totman, Chairman Robert Walpole
*Monica Carey Barbara Frantz, Attorney
*Sheldon Clark
*Jeff Lewis
*Verl Rankin
*George VanSlyke
*Cecil Twigg
The meeting was called to order at 8 905 p.m. by Acting Chairman Carey.
M. Carey: Webe got a Public Hearing. I'll read the notice that was in the paper.
Legal Notice. Town of Groton. Please take notice , that the Site Plan Review
Board of the Town of Groton, County of Tompkins, State of New York, will
hold a public hearing at the Town Hall, 101 Conger Boulevard, Groton, NY on
Thursday, November 17, 1994 at 8 p. m. for the purpose of considering the
application of Marchell Monuments 4 Hall Road, Ithaca, NY, to use existing
barn located at 801 South Main Street Extension , Groton, NY, for storage of
raw materials for monument business. All interested persons will be heard.
George Totman, Chairman - Planning Board - Town of Groton. Dated: October
31 , 1994.
M. Carey: Okay, Robert. You said this pink area is where they are going to have parking up by the
warehouse .
J. Lewis: You said this parking is mostly going to be consumed by the owner, right?
M. Carey: Right. Okay, let's discuss this with Bob .
R. Walpole: One of the questions came from George in reference to off street parking. There will be
no permanent parking there. Basically it will be used to unload . It will be all off street parking.
C. Tw1wo How much did he acquire there -- a big parcel or. . . .
R. Walpole: How much land is involved? It's about 23 acres.
C. lwigg: He bought quite a chunk then.
R. Walpole: Yes. What's going to happen here, and it's too premature -- Parcel A where the barn is
has about 60 acres out back which would be back in here -- and I'm at liberty to talk about it -- could be
tied in with Parcel A. There may or may not be three building lots there . There's 650 feet left if the
zoning changes -- it could be four building lots left to the east of the barn, and the 60 acres left out back
which could remain recreational -- but there may be four additional building lots to the east of the
barn. Right now we can put three there. If the flag lot theory goes, there could be 13 acres that could go
with this 50 feet. But it's too premature to bring it to the Planning Board until we know what the Town
Board does with the Comprehensive Plan . That's the projection right now. But Parcel A. right now,
will be at least five acres and there's a good chance they'll end up doing 65 acres within three or four
months. They flew in here Wednesday and all parties have agreed to it. If we were going to go with the E
Lot, then we'd have to go for a variance.
Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting 17 November 1994
M. Carey: Any more questions? Now this will be strictly a warehouse and it won't be used for
anything else , right?
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R. Walpole: Yes.
J. Lewis: What kind of materials will he store in there? I mean is he going to store sandblasting
sand, or is it just going to be the whole product, or. . .
R. Walpole: I have no idea.
V. Rankin: This little pink area is the parking ?
R. Walpole: Right.
M. Carey: Now everything will be under cover?
R. Walpole: Everything will be in the barn .
C. lwigg: Probably they'll be painting the building.
M. Carey: Will they be putting some sort of a sign on that property?
R. Walpole: A sign needs a building permit, so if they do, they would have to contact George.
J: Lewis: It says something on here about lighting, too, didn't it? There wasn't going to be any?
R. Walpole: There will be a barn light. There's no public use; it's strictly private use.
M. Carey: Any other questions for Bob? It's quarter after eight and there's nobody here , so I
think we should close the public hearing.
C. lwigg: I'll make that motion.
J. Lewis: I'll second it.
M. Carey: Okay, Bob, you wanted to ask some questions?
R Walpole: Marchell Monuments is the business, but the deed is only in his name -- I don't see any
difference .
M. Carey: Yes. It says Ted Marchell monument storage .
G. VanSlyke : Is the deed to the property in his name?
R. Walpole: Only in his name .
G. VanSlyke : Not the corporation. Also, if the Board approves it for storage and he decides to put an
apartment in, would it require another Site Plan Review?
M. Carey: Yes. I would think so. I believe it would because it would be a change in. . . right now the
permits just for warehouse storage only.
C. lwlgg: It might not. If anyone is going to build a house there , they wouldn't have to have Site
Plan Review,
M. Carey: No. But we're giving him a Special Permit for a warehouse . And that's all that pen-nit
is allowing.
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t. Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting 17 November 1994
G. VanSlyke : I agree with you Monica. With this Site Plan Review we're giving him the privilege of
using it just for storage. Now if you go back in there and change the use of this facility, then I think you
do have to come back.
R. Walpole: It might end up being a personal residence.
M. Carey: I'm not sure.
Ce TWI gi Colleen didn't have the answer?
R. Walpole: No .
M. Carey: I would think George Senter would have the answer to that one.
Co lwigg: The Vice Chair of the Planning Board should know those things, too .
M. Carey: I'm not the building officer.
R Walpole: It very well could be used for that. If the Board issues a permit for a storage warehouse
tonight, am I going to have a problem having an apartment?
hL Carey: I don't see a problem with it, but I do think you'd have to come in . Do we want to work
on finishing up the Site Plan Review?
V. Rankin: I move to accept.
C. Tvdw, I'll second that.
George VanSlyke then reads aloud Part H of the Short Environmental Assessment
Form, at the request of Acting Chair Carey. Negative responses were obtained to all
questions in Part H and it was determined by the Planning Board that the action receive
a negative declaration.
M. Carey: Does everyone agree? (All agreed it was a negative declaration.) All in favor?
(All were in favor.) The motion is carried. Okay, it's a Special Permit -- and it's going to be a warehouse
only, and there will be off street parking, and it's designated by a map . Does somebody want to make a
motion?
R. Walpole: I believe you have a copy of the letter from the County Planning Department -- are you
going to read it into the record?
M. Carey: Okay. George would you like to read that letter?
G. VanSlyke: I would acknowledge that we received a letter dated November 2 , 1994 from The
Tompkins County Department of Planning that they see no problem with the proposal for the storage,
and that no recommendation is indicated by the Planning Department,
M. Carey: Now would someone like to make a motion?
G. VanSlyke: I thought Verl made the motion to accept this and Cecil seconded it.
M. Carey. Right. All in favor? (All were, in favor.) Okay, Bob . . Barbara Frantz is here
representing Christopher and Diane Dempsey,
B. Frantz: Nancy Brown owns approximately a 78-acre parcel which Chris and Diane bought less
than an acre of two or three years ago, and now they want to buy the other half of what was that
original farm lot. They are applying for subdivision approval since this is the third deed out of what
was once a larger lot. There are not going to be any buildings on it -- no improvements, or anything. So
right now it's going to be a continued rural use as it is.
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Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting 17 November 1994
M. Carey: This is a rural subdivision.
B. Frantz: And this is how it would be subdivided. You need this survey for the record, so here's a
copy for you ,
V. Rankin: That old field we don't care about anyway,
CO Tw1 g: If they took that whole side of Groton, it really wouldn't make any difference .
J. Lewis: He wants to buy it so he can post it, is that it?
C. Twia As long as it isn't going to interfere with the public water supply. . . .
X Carey: This will be a rural subdivision, a large lot, George , did you want to do the SEAR
Review?
Ce TWI g: It's got the one small one out of it, Monica. Does that mean it car' still be a Rural
Subdivision? That doesn't matter, The size of the first lot doesn't matter?
M. Carey: I don't know. On a Rural Subdivision, it needs to be five acres or more, but you're
talking about such a huge parcel here.
CO Tw1 g: But the first one that was taken out -- they are bygones -- we don't have to consider
those?
hL Carey: I don't really think so, because you're talking about so much land and the main parcel
is several acres, right?
B. Frantz: Yes, but Nancy will be left with 30 some acres. So you're going from a 76-acre parcel to
two parcels.
M. Carey: Now do the Village waterlines go through this land?
Be Frantz: No .
G. VanSlyke : Okay. Are we ready to do this one?
M. Carey: Are you ready, Jeff?
George VanSlyke then reads aloud Part II of the Short Environmental Assessment
Form, at the request of Acting Chair Carey. Negative responses were obtained to all
questions in Part 11 and it was determined by the Planning Board that the action receive
a negative declaration.
K Carey: Okay, Does someone want to make a motion to pass the environmental and declare it
a negative declaration?
V. Rankin: I so move,
G. VanSlyke: I second.
W Carey: All in favor? (All were in favor. ) Are there any questions? Now, does somebody want
to make a motion we approve this little subdivision?
J. Lewis: I make a motion that we pass this and accept the rural subdivision,
G. VanSlyke : I second the motion,
X Carey: All in favor? (All were in favor.)
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t Town of Groton Planning Board Meeting 17 November 1994
M. Carey: So we keep this copy: George will have to sign this copy. Now, we need to approve the
minutes of the October meeting.
J. Lewis: I make a motion to approve the minutes.
C. Twiggy I second.
M. Carey: All in favor? (All were in favor, except for one abstention .) Next is our draft document.
You all get one.
J. Lewis: Are we going to be able to take it home?
M. Carey: Take it home and study it. Look it over and see if it looks good to everyone .
G. VanSlyke : We didn't make this any thinner.
M. Carey: It's a little bit thinner, believe me. George is going to meet with the Town Board
sometime next month , maybe the second or third week next month we could hold a ,joint meeting
together.
J. Lewis: When will we know that? When will he let us know?
M. Carey: As soon as possible .
J. Lewis: He'll give us a special phone call or something?
M. Carey: I would imagine. This is what we've been working on. It's the draft, so it has to be
approved by the Town Board and go through a Public Hearing. This will be good reading material for
everybody.
J. Lewis: The map's not ready yet.
M. Carey: That's right. We're going to, have a digital map. So the maps are not ready. I suppose
they will have it ready before the meeting with the Town Board,
J. Lewis: They'll have to have .
M. Carey: Any more business or discussion?
V. Rankin: I move we adjourn the meeting.
S. Clark: I will.
The meeting was adjourned at 8*40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Joan E. Fitch
Recording Secretary
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